We started our 2026 cruising season (our sixteenth trip) on Wednesday, April 29 with a relatively modest first day of cruising from Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island to the Port Townsend Boat Haven and a quick visit with the folks at Port Townsend Shipwrights Coop (PTSC).
During our regular maintenance haul out earlier in April, we had PTSC upgrade most of the electronics at our helm stations. Our multifunction displays (MFD’s) at both our upper and lower helms were the builder installed “classic” Raymarine E- series models E80 & E120. Our preference is to replace critical equipment before failure to avoid the disruption and possible extra cost of emergency repairs or replacement. We deemed the radar portion of the MFD’S role critical and decided to do the work now. The newly installed Garmin equipment was operating correctly except for the new Garmin AIS which was performing subpar. We stopped by Port Townsend to see whether a new AIS-VHF antenna would fix the issue. Sadly, it didn’t and our view of AIS targets remains less than we’d like.
While in Port Townsend we crossed paths with a “cousin” vessel, the classic Diesel Duck Shearwater owned by David Cohn. David is an avid and expert fisherman and spends much of his Alaska time in the Sitka area laying in loads of seafood for the winter. He had left from his home in the San Juan Islands a few days us before but returned to Port Townsend when he saw some erratic electrical monitoring equipment not working correctly. His problem was quickly fixed with a new connector.
After Port Townsend, we positioned in Prevost Harbor on Stuart Island in the San Juan Islands Archipelago. We made the short crossing the next day to Port Browning on North Pender Island. It is a Nexus Canadian Border station, and there is a grocery store only a half mile walk from the marina. We wanted to provision with the fresh produce that we weren’t able to take across the border. Port Browning Marina also has a huge grass field where Drake can play ball until total exhaustion (as indicated by his tongue hanging sideways out of his mouth). It being May 1, there was a May Day Celebration being held on the lawn during our visit.
From here we started a steady march northward. On May 2, we traveled 74 miles to Tribune Bay on Hornby Island. On May 3, we traveled a more modest 64 miles to Otter Cove on Discovery Passage but transited the often-problematic Seymour Narrows north of Campbell River. May 4 was 95 miles to Port Alexander on Nigel Island, positioned for crossing Cape Caution. A 93-mile day on May 5 got us around Cape Caution, during which we deployed our stabilizers in the water, and up to Strom Cove on Seaforth Channel, north of Bella Bella. Next day’s 68 miles put us in Khutze Inlet along Graham Reach and catching us back up with David Cohn’s Shearwater. With a forecast for deteriorating weather and the memory of being stuck the previous year in Klewnuggit Inlet on Grenville
Channel for four nights, we traveled 89 miles on May 7 to an overnight in Kelp Passage on Porcher Island followed by a short 20 mile day to get us to Cow Bay Marina in Prince Rupert.
After two nights in Prince Rupert (and lots of play for Drake despite periodic rain), the weather improved enough for us to travel on May 10 the 33 miles to Brundage Inlet on Dundas Island, where we again shared the anchorage with Shearwater. The next day, May 11, with an additional 57 miles we arrived in Bar Harbor Marina in Ketchikan.
Leg 1 – 13 Days, 682.2 NM, 104.8 Engine Hours
